


Mallow

by strawbebbyy



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M, implied akira/ryuji/haru, mentioned akira/ryuji, ryuharu - Freeform, ryuji has a crush on both haru and akira basically but this focuses on him and haru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:48:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28825485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawbebbyy/pseuds/strawbebbyy
Summary: Ryuji thinks Akira is amazing, and sometimes when they’re together his heart feels like someone’s reached into his chest and wrapped a fist around it. But he feels that way with other people, too. Namely, one Ms. Haru Okumura....Oh, shit.----Ryuji stays after school to help Haru with her flower beds and comes to a realization about his feelings for her.
Relationships: Okumura Haru/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Mallow

Ryuji drops the heavy bag of potting soil on the grass near one of the large flower beds in front of Shujin.

“There you go, Haru.”

Haru, kneeling in front of the flower bed, beams at him. “Thank you very much! That’s all I needed, so I won’t keep you if you’re busy. But if you’re free, you can stay and help with the planting if you’d like.”

“Are you sure you want my help with that part? Wouldn’t you rather someone like Yusuke? I’m not really the gardening type.”

“Nonsense! It would be lovely to have your help, I’m sure you’ll be better at it than you think.” She’s still giving him that bright-eyed smile and he can’t bear to disappoint her, so he kneels on the opposite side of the flower bed.

“Alright. With you teaching me, there’s no way I screw it up, right?” He offers her his own smile in return.

“There’s nothing to teach, but thank you for the compliment anyways,” Haru giggles. “You just put the flowers where you think they look nice. Easy as pie!” She reaches for one of the smaller planters, the ones that are usually on the school roof. Right now it's filled with colorful blooms that Ryuji doesn’t know the names of.

Ryuji watches as Haru gently digs out a chunk of dirt surrounding one of the plants and lifts the it from the planter, little fibrous roots peeking out from the dark, moist soil. She plants it in the back of the bed, patting the surrounding soil until it’s smooth and even.

“What kind of flower is that?”

“It’s called baby’s breath. Here, come sit by me for a moment.”

Ryuji scoots around the flower bed so he’s seated near Haru. She pulls the small planter closer to the two of them.

“These pinkish-white ones are called mallow, and these short purple ones are violets. I have more baby’s breath, too. I would have liked to grow some lilac, but lilac bushes get too large for these beds. The baby’s breath actually grows into a bush, too, but it's a smaller bush than lilac. I thought it would look nice in the back of the bed, since it’ll be taller than the other plants."

“And those are tulips, right?”

“Yes! See, you’ll do just fine.”

“So, did you have any plans for where to put stuff?”

“I thought we could put the baby’s breath in the back, tulips and mallow in front of that, and the violets in the far front of the bed. The tulips can grow to 60 cm, and so will the mallow. The violets will only get to 15 cm, though. If we arrange them by height, everything will be visible. I’d hate to plant something behind the baby’s breath and not be able to see it around the bush.”

“That makes sense. I guess I’ll start on the back?”

“Here, I’ll pass them to you and you can plant them.”

“Uh, yeah, okay.”

Ryuji digs a hole at the back of the bed, and watches as Haru digs up a plant and then passes it to him, placing the wad of dirt and roots into his hands and cupping her own hands around his to show him the way he should hold the plant. Ryuji is gripped by fear that he’s going to crush the plant. He’s not used to having to restrain himself or be careful with things. Ryuji’s hands shake a bit with the effort he’s putting in to not being too rough with the delicate flower. Compared to Haru’s steady and gentle hands, he feels like a bull in a china shop.

“I’m not cut out for this,” he laughs. “I’m afraid I’m going to break it or something. I’m not as gentle as you.”

“They’re sturdier than you might think, don’t worry. Be sure to support the roots while you’re holding it, though.”

He places it in the hole he’d dug, but hesitates after that.

“Sorry,” he laughs a little, embarrassed. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

A sunny smile graces her features, and not for the first time Ryuji finds himself in awe of how sweet and patient she is.

“That’s okay!” She reaches over and, laying her hands over his, shows him how to pat the soil around the plant so it’s smooth and packed in nice and snug. “See? I told you it was easy.”

They continue like that for a while - Haru removes the baby’s breath plants from the planter she’d grown them in, and passes them to Ryuji so he can plant them in a row at the back of the flower bed.

“Can I ask you something that might be improper?” Haru asks, big brown eyes focused on the plant she’s uprooting.

“Of course. What’s up?”

“You don’t have to answer if it’s embarrassing, and I know it’s not my place to ask, but… you and Akira. He’s been friends with you longer than anyone else in our group, right?”

“Yeah. We met on our way to school one day back in April. Why do you ask?”

“It’s probably silly, but sometimes I get the feeling you, um… that you have feelings for him?”

Ryuji feels his face get warm.

“W-well,” he stares at the dirt in the flower bed. “I… maybe? Yes?” He doesn’t know for sure what to say - he thinks Akira is amazing, and sometimes when they’re together his heart feels like someone’s reached into his chest and wrapped a fist around it. But he feels that way with other people, too. Namely, one Ms. Haru Okumura.

.

.

.

Oh, shit.

Staring at the flower bed, the warm sun beating down on him as he kneels in the grass in front of Shujin, he comes to realize something he wishes he could un-realize.

“It’s okay.” Haru chuckles. “I think we’ve all had a crush on him at some point.”

“Yeah,” he stammers, taking the plant Haru hands off to him, but not daring to meet her eyes.

“I’m sorry, did I make you uncomfortable?” She frowns. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, you’re fine! I’m not bothered. But now I have a question to ask you.”

“Certainly!”

“Um, do you think… do you think it’s weird to have a crush on more than one person?”

“Why? Do you have feelings for someone besides Akira? Oh!" She moves to slap a hand over her mouth, but abandons the motion when she remembers the dirt on her hands. "I’m Sorry! I shouldn’t have asked! But to answer your question, I don’t think it’s weird at all. You feel the way you do, there’s nothing weird about it, no matter what those feelings are.”

Ryuji gets quiet as he plants the baby’s breath that Haru had handed him, finishing off the row of them in the back of the flower bed. He watches his own hands packing the soil around the roots, observes the dirt that’s gotten beneath his fingernails, and thinks about things like feelings and the girl seated next to him.

Haru is so different from him, so kind and gentle and refined. Compared to her, Ryuji feels like the world’s biggest ruffian. He likes her, it’s astonishing it's taken him this long to notice, but he couldn’t imagine a world in which she has any interest in him. She’s sweet and soft spoken, he’s rough and loud. She’s high-class, he’s a delinquent. She’s every bit a princess, and what is he in comparison?

“Should we start on the next row, with the tulips and mallow?” Haru asks, interrupting his thoughts.

“Huh? Uh, yeah, sure. Tell me what to do.”

“Just put the plants wherever you’d like. If you’re still okay doing the planting, that is?”

Ryuji nods, and Haru passes him a plant with pink-white flowers and round, ridged leaves.

“That’s a mallow, you can tell by the leaves. Aren’t they cute?”

“Mm-hm.” A pause as he plants the flower. “You know, gardening really suits you, Haru.”

“You think? I’ll take that as a good thing.”

“It is a good thing, I swear! It’s a perfect hobby for someone as classy as you.”

She giggles, a light, melodic sound. “Well, I think it suits you, too.”

“For real? I feel pretty out of place.”

“Yes! I know you think you’re too gruff, but you’re not. You’re sweeter and gentler than you give yourself credit for, you know.”

He feels his face warm all the way to the tips of his ears at her praise.

“Aw, geez.” He fiddles with the round leaf of the mallow flower he’d planted. “Thanks, Haru. For what it’s worth, I think you’re pretty damn amazin’.”

This time, it’s her turn to blush. Ryuji watches the color spread across her pretty face and finds himself thinking that it’s a cute look on her.

“Thank you,” she grins. “That means a lot coming from you.”

God, how is she so sweet? In what world does a girl like her actually think that highly of someone like him?

“Oh!” She exclaims, as if an idea has hit her out of the blue. “You’ve been so helpful with my flower beds, maybe you’d be willing to help me out with something else.”

“Uh, sure. What else do you need?”

“I’m not very strong.” She rubs a flower petal between her fingers. “The axe I use in the metaverse is pretty heavy, and I’m getting stronger, but I still have some trouble lifting the axe. Maybe you could help me work out and get stronger.”

“You wanna be gym buddies?” He laughs a little. “Sure.”

She clasps her hands together. “That’s great, thank you so much!”

“Of course, happy to help.”

He stares at her as she digs up a plant. It’s a violet, he thinks. He doesn’t focus on it too much, because he’s distracted by the way the sunlight catches on her curly hair and the way she’s humming a cheerful little song as she works. Man, she's cute.

They work in silence (except for Haru’s humming) for a few minutes, making quick work of the row of mallow and tulips. Ryuji will admit he’s winging it when it comes to placing the plants, but despite that Haru seems thrilled with the way the bed is turning out. They’re starting on the final row, the one of violets, when Haru speaks up again.

“I never thanked you,” she says, watching as he plants a violet in the front of the bed.

“Thanked me? For what?”

“For standing up to my fiancé, right after we first met. Remember? He was harassing Morgana and I. You and everyone else came to our rescue!”

“I mean, yeah I remember. But why single me out?”

“Because you were the first one to help us out. You were leading the charge, so to speak.”

“C’mon, it’s not like everyone else would’ve ignored you if I hadn’t been there.”

“No, but you were still the one who stood up for me first. That deserves thanks, don’t you agree?”

“It was nothin’, I couldn’t ignore someone in trouble.” Geez, is he blushing again?

“That’s something about you I admire. I wish I had the strength to stand up for others, but I can barely stand up for myself. You’re so brave!”

“What? You’re brave, too, Haru!”

“That’s not fair! You have to take the compliment, you can’t turn it around on me! Those are the rules!” She giggles.

He snorts, not even bothering to try and suppress his grin. “What? There are rules about taking compliments now? You know I’m a delinquent, right? I’m a rule breaker.”

“Dang!” She exclaims, snapping her fingers. “I guess you’ve got me there.”

Haru passes him the last violet, smiling as he plants it.

“That’s the last one. Let’s take a step back and look at it!”

Ryuji gets up from where he’d been kneeling on the grass, hip and bad leg protesting the motion. Shit, he didn’t realize how sore he’d be from kneeling like that. He spares a moment to lament his bad, achy leg, but doesn’t dare mention it aloud.

He wipes his dirty hands on his school uniform pants, and then extends a hand to Haru. 

“Thank you. Such a gentleman.” She gives him a warm smile, no hint of sarcasm behind her compliment, and takes his hand, allowing him to help her to her feet.

They walk out a few paces and turn to look at their flower bed from a distance. Ryuji doesn’t know anything about flowers or aesthetics, but he thinks it looks pretty nice. Haru had the right idea to put the taller plants in the back. The white baby’s breath in the back makes the colorful tulips pop - little splotches of red, pink, purple, and orange. The short violets fill up the space in the front with vibrant purple and their thick, waxy, dark green leaves.

“It looks beautiful!” Haru cheers, delighted. “You did a great job, I knew you’d be good at it!”

“I’m just glad it doesn’t look terrible.”

“Thank you so much for your help. If you’re ever free while I’m working on my beds another time, I’d be thrilled to have your help again.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind helping again. It was kinda fun.”

“Do you have plans for the rest of your afternoon?” Haru tugs on the hem of her sweater.

“Nah. Why, what’s up?”

“I thought we could go get coffee to celebrate a job well done. Or, well, it doesn’t have to be coffee. You don’t like it, right?”

“Oh.” It’s not a date, Ryuji. It’s not a date.

He knows that, but his heart still skips a beat.

“Of course. How about we go get a beef bowl at the shop in Shibuya?”

“That would be wonderful! Let me go inside to wash my hands first, though, and then we can walk to the station together?”

“Sure thing. I’ll wait for you here.”

Haru scurries off inside the school, leaving Ryuji standing by the flower bed. He tries to reign his emotions in, he doesn’t want to be a flustered mess while they’re hanging out. But how is he supposed to not feel flustered when a cute girl so far out of his league has invited him out? They’re just hanging out as friends but that doesn’t change how his heart soars when he thinks about it.

They take the train together. Haru’s used to being driven everywhere, so she relies on Ryuji to navigate the trains and the stations. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the feeling of being relied on, though.

At the beef bowl shop, Haru giggles at the things he says and watches him with genuine interest when he speaks, as if he was the coolest and most fascinating person she’s ever met. She even gives him a friendly little kiss on the cheek when they part ways

And by the end of the afternoon, Ryuji knows he’s in deep.

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written ryuharu before but I adore them so I gave it a shot. I'm thinking about doing another chapter where they end up in an polycule....
> 
> Anyway ignore that these flowers all bloom in spring but technically the group doesn't meet Haru til summer. Let me get away with this for the sake of flower symbolism.


End file.
